- A 10-year-old child has been arrested for allegedly making an online threat to “shoot up” Wakulla High School.
- On September 19, 2024, the child's father turned him in to law enforcement.
- Read the news release below to see how they connected the alleged threat to the child.
WCSO NEWS RELEASE:
On September 19, 2024, School Resource Officers (SROs) of the Safe Schools Division at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) arrested a 10-year-old Woodville resident for making an online threat to “shoot up” Wakulla High School.
After the school day had ended on September 18, 2024, at approximately 4:00 p.m., an SRO was alerted by Wakulla High School (WHS) staff of a threatening social media post. A high school student reported to WHS he had participated in a SnapChat conversation with an unidentified person who stated, “Yes I’m finna Shoot up your school It’s yalls last day.” The SRO initiated a criminal investigation.
The WCSO solicited assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and FDLE’s Cyber Crime Unit, Counter Terrorism Unit, and Organized Crime Unit joined the investigation.
Throughout the afternoon, evening and into the early morning hours of September 19, 2024, significant effort was expended to identify the source and location of the threat. FDLE’s contribution to this effort was timely, extensive and is appreciated. During the early morning hours of September 19, 2024, FDLE Special Agents and an SRO made contact with the subject who made the online threat at his residence in Leon County and interviewed him.
The WCSO informed Wakulla County school officials during the early morning hours of September 19, 2024, that there was no imminent threat to WHS or any other school, but that the juvenile who had made the threat had been identified and would be charged.
On September 19, 2024, the SRO obtained an arrest warrant charging the juvenile with violation of Florida Statute 836, i.e. making a written or electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.
On September 19, 2024, the juvenile’s father turned him in and the juvenile was taken into custody by authority of the arrest warrant.
